Tuesday, August 19, 2008

We headed to the beach last week for a bit of vacation before the craziness of back-t0-school begins. Although our hotel was in Corpus Christi, we drove over to Mustang Island each day and spent most of our time on the beach and riding the waves. Dave bought Tay a boogie board as soon as we got there and she absolutely loved that thing. By the time we left, she was really good at it too!

So we got there early afternoon Wednesday, checked into the hotel and headed straight to the island. Once we were equipped with a boogie board, we hit the white sand beaches for

the rest of the day. Apparently there were some storms out in the Gulf because the waves were AWESOME every day we were there. Our philosophy was the bigger the better and they were certainly huge! In addition to many really neat seashells, Tay also found two almost completely intact sand dollars, which we assured her was rather unusual, and three hermit crabs straight from the sea.

After wrapping up the first day with some Olympic viewing pleasure, we hit the sack early

so we would be bright-eyed for our dolphin watching boat tour the next morning. It was absolutely terrific with great weather and lots of dolphins to see--including some newly born babies. We were able to sit at the very front of the boat so we had the best seats in the house. We also learned about the history of Port Aransas and got an up close and personal view of the Lydia Ann Lighthouse, which is currently owned by Charles Butt, heir to H-E-B...interesting and fun tidbit!

After the boat tour, we headed to a great restaurant call The Big Fisherman for lunch. We had butterfly shrimp, fried fish and popcorn shrimp along with fries and the soup of the day. It was yummy and gave us the energy to spend the rest of the day on the beach again. We again sat glued to the Olympics before heading off to bed.

Friday was spent entirely on the beach after we took Tay to choose her very own Port A t-shirt. She chose the shirt and the exact design she wanted screen printed on it so it's an original. We packed our cooler with Lunchables, soda, water and dessert and just played and played and played. Each day we were there, we'd play in the surf for a while then take a long walk on the beach before sitting in the water together to dig for big shells. Then we'd hit the surf again before heading home...it was a great routine and, judging by the way my shorts fit when we left to come home, one that also burned lots of calories!

Friday evening we had dinner a Snoopy's, which is absolutely awesome. Not only do they have giant butterfly shrimp, great oysters, terrific fish and phenomenal hushpuppies, they also make crab-stuffed jalapenos. Truly a feast for the palette :-)...then, you guessed it, we enjoyed the Olympics again.

Saturday morning we headed to Whataburger by the Bay for breakfast before heading out. It's the coolest Whataburger I've ever seen as it is two-story and has walls that are almost completely windows so you can see the water and marina while eating. Tay thought it was super cool. We left at exactly the right time as the rain was rolling in and expected to stay for a few days...

The only hiccups we had were Dave's sunglasses becoming a victim of the big waves and Tay's teddy bear, Snow Puff, taking an unexpected trip to the hotel's laundry room. When we returned from the beach Friday afternoon, he was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, both the head housekeeper and laundry room attendant had left for the day so he and Tay weren't reunited until shortly before we headed out on Saturday morning. This caused her many tears (enhanced by the fact that she was exhausted) on Friday night so I really can't tell you how excited I was when the little guy showed up at the door!

It was truly a fantabulous trip and now we're ready to tackle meet the teacher, the first day of school, first dance class, first gym class, soccer practice, Baylor football games and the class I'm facilitating this fall...at least I think we're ready for all of that :-)...

I love Jesus, my family, Zumba, comfort food and Baylor University. About all of these I am unapologetic, which can sometimes be viewed as opinionated. But I'm totally ok with that...
Our life is not always rainbows and sunshine but it is His plan and we trust that what He has in store for us is immeasurably more than we could ever imagine.